Man marks three years with artificial heart
Pete Kenyon of Darien, 63, has lived three years with a Novacor artificial heart implanted at Yale New Haven Hospital. The two-part pump guides his left ventricle while a battery pack powers it. He remains on transplant wait list though healthier than many patients, and he keeps normal routines with his wife Kathy managing care.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Robert “Pete” Kenyon
Stamford
Conn
United States
Yasle-New Haven Hospital
New Haven
Peer M. Portner
Robert
Pete
Kenyon
Darien
Barney Clark
William Schroeder
Jasper
Ind
Schroeder
Jewish Hospital
Louisville
Novacor
Peer Portner
Stanford University
Portner
Yale-New Haven Hospital
Kathy Kenyon
California court clarifies life support rights in turn on written directives
California Supreme Court ruled six to zero that the right to die does not apply when a conservatee is conscious but cannot communicate and has no written health care directives. The case centers on Robert Wendland, injured in 1993, who died of pneumonia at 49, and his wife Rose Wendland who sought to remove feeding tubes. His mother Florence argued against pulling life support, saying her son was not a vegetable. The ruling narrows the scenario to incapacitated yet technically conscious individuals lacking formal directives, leaving broader end-of-life questions unsettled.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
San Francisco
State Supreme Court
Robert Wendland
Rose Wendland
Kathryn Mickle Werdegar
Florence Wendland
Judge scales down record tobacco verdict to 100 million
A Los Angeles judge cut the $3 billion punitive award against Philip Morris for Richard Boeken’s lung cancer to $100 million while upholding $5.54 million in compensatory damages. He set an Aug. 24 deadline for Boeken to accept the settlement, and left room for a retrial only if the offer is rejected. The ruling drew criticisms of unfair punishment and signals an appeal from Philip Morris.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Los Angeles
Philip Morris
Superior Court
Charles W. McCoy
McCoy
Richard Boeken
Boeken
Michael J. Piuze
Antioxidant vitamins may blunt cholesterol drug benefits
A Dallas AP report describes a one year study where patients with heart disease taking cholesterol drugs plus antioxidant vitamins showed smaller HDL increases than those on drugs alone. HDL2 rose with drugs only, while antioxidants did not. Experts differ on broader recommendations.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dallas
B. Greg Brown
University of Washington At Seattle
American Heart Association
Zocor
Lewis H. Kuller
University of Pittsburgh
Kenny Jialal
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center At
Jialal
Institute of Medicine
State seizes HMO amid financial distress in California
Regulators seized Watts Health Foundation doing business as UHP Healthcare in Los Angeles to protect 96 000 mostly low income patients as doctors and hospitals reported unpaid claims eight weeks after submission. The state had ordered expense cuts but the nonprofit failed to comply, prompting state takeover.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sacramento
Calif
Watts Health Foundation
UHP Healthcare
HMO
Watts Health
Daniel Zingale
State Department of Managed Care
Zingale
Also Mentioned on This Page
California
Jon B. Eisenberg
Ethicists
William S. Ohlemeyer
America
Topanga
Phillip Morris Inc
Clyde Oden Jr
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!